ROYAL OAK - A Bloomfield Hills man charged with fondling and trying to abduct a Royal Oak girl has long standing mental health problems and has been under the care of a psychiatrist, his defense attorney said.

Derek J. Wallin, 24, is jailed on $100,000 cash bond for attempted kidnapping and misdemeanor sexual assault involving a 14-year-old girl as she was walking home Oct. 6.

Wallin appeared before Royal Oak 44th District Judge Terrence Brennan for a pre-exam conference Friday. Defense attorney Jim Williams unsuccessfully sought to have Wallin's bond reduced so that he could receive treatment from his doctor at a locked-down psychiatric ward at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac.

Williams asked to have Wallin's bond reduced so that he could be returned to his mother's custody and taken to the hospital. Wallin's mother and some other relatives were in court Friday.

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But Judge Brennan refused to lower the suspect's bond following objections from Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Sara Green.

"I have a concern for the safety of the public," Brennan said.

Williams said Wallin is on a psychotropic medication that he cannot receive at the Oakland County Jail. Williams indicated Wallin was put on the medication, which seemed to be helping him, following a psychiatric hospitalization in February.

"I don't have an explanation for the allegations" against Wallin, Williams said.

The hearing was adjourned until 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19. Williams is expected to decide by then whether he will ask the court to order that Wallin be examined by a psychiatrist at the Forensic Center in Ypsilanti to determine whether the suspect is competent to stand trial.

Police said they arrested Wallin Oct. 6 at his family's home after he tried to abduct a Royal Oak girl as she was walking home in the area of Normandy and Tonawanda.

Wallin was in his mother's silver Chevy Camero when he drove up to the girl and told her she "looked nice," police said.

The girl refused when Wallin offered her a ride and some marijuana, police said. Police said he then drove away and hastily parked his car nearby.

Police spotted the empty car by chance and were suspicious because it was parked at an angle and partially blocking a crosswalk. About the same time, police said the girl was talking to her mother on her cell phone to report the incident when Wallin came up behind the girl and grabbed her.

He is accused of lifting the girl off the ground and fondling her. Police said they believe he was trying to get her into the car.

The girl's mother called police, who said they chased Wallin in the Camaro but lost him in traffic as he sped north on Woodward. Information from the license plate on the car later led police to Wallin's house where he was arrested.